


One Thousand Light-Years Away

by Adeline_Wrights_Fanfiction



Category: Slime Rancher (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, F/F, Later chapters are written in prose or a mix, Poetry, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-12-17 01:17:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21045917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeline_Wrights_Fanfiction/pseuds/Adeline_Wrights_Fanfiction
Summary: As Beatrix learns the end of Hobson's tale and the final secrets of the Far Far Range, she forges a new resolution. Before she sets out for what lies ahead, she writes Casey a letter…





	1. One Thousand Light-Years Away

Dear Casey,

I thought I'd cried my final tears,  
Bled my heart one thousand years,  
But there you go and say again,

I love you. I miss you.  
I need you, my friend.

But you're one thousand light-years away.  
There are no more chances  
To see you again.

If I could rewind the time,  
The tears, the miles, the years,

I wonder if I could  
Conquer my fears.  
Would I dare

Tell you the truth  
Of my heart?

That I need you?  
Would it be easier  
Knowing it all from the start?

What could ever  
Ease this ache?

I need to adventure.  
I need to have time.  
I need to have someone

In which to reside.  
Your heart is my home;

I am profoundly alone  
In the reaches of space  
Without you by my side

Every day.  
Every night

I dream of your dreams,  
Your life and your music,  
A queen among queens.

Life has a habit of  
Presenting two doors;

Only one may be opened;  
The other ignored  
'Til the ending of time.

But it's not the end—  
It's the beginning of mine.

Wait for me, Love.  
I promise to return.  
Give me one moment

As my soul  
Warmly yearns.

No time nor space  
Can hold me still.  
I'll see you again.

I promise  
I will.

Love,  
Bea


	2. One Thousand Light-Years From Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beatrix's design was apparently inspired by bees. When her name is shortened to Bea, it is pronounced with one syllable, "bee", rather than two, as in "Bay-ah". (This is important for the meter) If you enjoy the story, please review!
> 
> This was originally supposed to just a single poem, written on a whim, but then I wrote more! It went as far as seven verses before my attentions strayed elsewhere.

Beatrix knew that  
Deep in her soul  
There was no other choice,  
No place else to go:

She must return home  
To Casey, her love of  
Lost loves, far-flung  
'Cross the stars.

That most ancient device  
Left deep in the sands  
Which towered above  
The glass of old hands:

This was the key.  
Her best ticket home.  
She was determined to go  
To where the stars shone.

She remembered the why—  
Why she'd left her and why  
She'd felt it was right.  
Her life was in life,

But she lived now alone.  
The slimes, they were precious,  
But they did not know  
How to sing out her name

In that way she adored.

Ancient and wild  
Was the spire's star child  
Bea could never erase  
An old lifetime's mistake,

But she'd find her way back  
To dear Casey someday.  
Though ancient, she knew  
It must have been true—

That she could travel through space,  
That time could erase.  
But now came a choice—  
An actual choice:

Would she come back by light  
Or let time unwind?  
Her journey was precious.  
She mustn't forget.

Though she felt alone,  
It was she who had left.  
Left Casey to pine.  
A whole year had gone by!

A whole year before Bea  
Had even arrived,  
Told Case she was fine.  
No, she resolved.

She had figured it out.

She would let the ranch go,  
Once again leave behind  
A whole life she'd built;  
All the friends, all the guilt.

To Mochi she'd write;  
To Casey, she'd fly  
On gelatinous wings  
And slime-born such things.

It took months of work,  
But at last, the Range shook  
With a great, ancient power,  
And at once she returned.

Case was waiting,  
It seemed,  
At the start  
Of all things.

In Beatrix's heart,  
She'd returned to the start.  
Not in time, but in place;  
That familiar face,

The shock, the surprise—

"Bea? Is that you?  
Can it really be true?"  
Case pinched her own cheek.  
Her knees had gone weak.

At once, Bea reached out.  
Her warmth was surreal.  
She smelled of sweet flowers.  
How could this be real?

Case, lost in a dream,  
She smiled, surprised.  
"How 'bout a taco, my Bea?  
There's no rain, but it's free."

Beatrix smiled with ease.  
"This one is on me.  
Are you alright, Casey?  
Can you stand on your feet?"

"Are you real?"  
Case reached out,  
Traced her Bea's cheek.  
She was here. No more doubt.

Casey's tears made no sound  
As they fell to the ground.  
She surged, nearly tripped,  
Kissed her Bea on the lips.

"Welcome home, dearest love.  
Though I sang to the stars,  
My heart sings to me now  
Knowing at last your touch."

Bea smiled and wept.  
She no longer kept  
Her feelings alone.  
Her love had yet shone.

"I'm home," smiled Bea.  
"Perhaps next some tea?"  
Casey laughed,  
Soul alight.

"That quaint old café is just down to the right."


	3. One Thousand Light-Years Back To You

"What took you so long?"  
"Casey, you know I had to go."  
"I know… I know, Bea.  
I'm just glad you came home."

"I thought about you, Casey,  
Felt keenly the loss.  
But I needed the space  
To grow and become

"The most like myself."

Casey sat silently, with  
Warmth on her cheeks  
And hurt in her eyes.  
"So why'd you come back?"

Beatrix reached 'cross the table  
Of that quaint old café,  
Took Casey's hand, held it  
As a dreamer holds dreams.

"We both felt it, you know,  
Even 'fore it was said.  
I was too 'fraid to love you,  
So I left you instead.

"But my life was not spent  
Simply running from fear;  
My ranch was a shelter.  
I held it so dear.

"I have stories to tell!  
Many more than I've shared.  
I'm sure you've your own.  
Please regale me with tales."

Casey raised Bea's hand,  
Pressed her lips to Bea's wrist,  
Felt her pulse beating strong.  
The lives lived apart…

"Bea, why'd you come back?  
I was being selfish.  
I pined while you thrived.  
And though my music brought me far,

"You had lived among stars.

"Why'd you come back, Bea?  
Though a dream sure come true,  
I'd never thought we would meet,  
Never thought I'd entreat you

"By singing your name."

"It's simple. It's love.  
I came back to my home.  
Though the ranch was a shelter,  
I still felt alone.

"I've learned so much.  
I nurtured sweet life.  
But then I remembered  
At the end of each night

"That I slept alone.  
I wished to change all of that."  
Bea leaned 'cross the table  
Of that quaint old café

And took Casey's cheek  
In the palm of her hand.  
Lips upon lips,  
A feeling so sweet—

After years spent apart  
Star-crossed lovers did meet.  
"Am I too late, Casey?  
Have I dragged on my feet?"

Tears wept in joy,  
Of shuddered relief;  
Casey said slowly,  
"I would wait for you always.

"Welcome home, my dear Bea."


	4. One Thousand Sweet Nothings

Beatrix Lebeau was never one to settle in a place for long. She was born with an innate wanderlust and a passion for the very essence of life. While she lived on Earth, she would rent apartments for mere months at a time before moving somewhere else in the city, "to gain a fresh perspective," as she put it.

It never bothered Casey much — Bea never went far, always kept close her inner circle of friends. At each new residence, Beatrix would either find or create a community garden, then slowly greenify the entire neighborhood. She avidly adored the rearing and care of any sort of life. Her plants were her children. She loved them, sang to them, kissed their leaves and flowers as if cheeks and foreheads to be so soothed.

Casey always loved her for that.

But one day, Bea decided that life wasn't enough for her. She had lived in every conceivable corner of the city. It seemed crazy at the time, but in a way, it made sense: If Bea had to leave the city to see something new, she may as well go somewhere so foreign she could never grow tired of it.

Casey asked if she wanted to leave the country, to travel the world. Bea never gave her a straight answer until the very end. While she did hop from country to country, staying in London for a while and eventually Brussels, Liechtenstein, and the Yorkshire Dales, she eventually realized that the whole planet was not enough for her.

"I don't understand, Casey. How can I be heartbroken when I am so clearly in love with the world?"

So Bea was heartbroken, and all the while Casey pondered how things might change if only she'd had the courage to tell her best friend how dear to her she truly was.

She never got that chance.

Bea left for the Far Far Range - one thousand light-years away - without even returning home. She left Casey a letter saying she needed a place to settle, that she needed somewhere large, open, and unfathomably foreign; somewhere she could nurture life in all its forms.

Casey was devastated, but she gave her blessings all the same. And, well, you know the rest from there. That brings us to now. To this very moment.

"Sweet Bea," Casey whispered  
In the crook of Bea's neck,  
"Do you remember the day  
You said you wouldn't come back?"

"Every day," Beatrix hummed.  
"Where did that come from?"  
"You said something to me  
Long ago, when you left:

"'How can I be heartbroken  
When I am so clearly  
In love with the world?'

"Those words haunted me.  
Those words echoed.  
They still do, you know,  
Even now we're together."

Amidst pillows and sheets,  
Casey's Bea shifted clean  
Apart from the covers,  
Exposed now in full.

"I love the whole world, but I love you more still."

Bea brushed their foreheads;  
Casey shivered in place.  
Then a nose to her nose,  
Tickling breaths down her throat.

Lips met crying eyes.  
Bea's answer surprised  
Her beloved to tears.

How in all of their years  
Had they not expressed  
Their innermost fears?

Lips found sweet lips.  
There was patience in this.  
Slow motions, tongues tried,  
Gentle touches thus plied.

'Twas a bright early morning.  
They spent it in bed  
Filled with love and contentment  
Over what they'd just shared.

The day far beyond  
Still awaited their call.  
They greeted the sun.  
There was work to be done!

Bea would garden midst bees;  
Casey sang to the trees.  
A warm day in the sun  
Filled with laughter and love.

"I love the whole world,  
But I love you the most.  
The world can't appease  
What only you grant with ease.

"I was heartbroken, love,  
Never knowing your touch.  
The whole world can't appease  
What only you grant with ease."


	5. One Thousand Doors Unopened

One morning they woke  
With Beatrix in tears.  
Casey kissed at her eyes.

"What is wrong here, my dear?"

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed.  
"I miss the Far Range.  
I miss traveling the stars.  
I miss my new friends."

"I'm sorry too.  
Your choices spent you."

"But still I chose!" Dear Bea cried.  
"I chose and left you!"

"But then you returned."

"And I chose yet again.  
My heart is so restless.  
Casey, when does it end?"

A hand to Bea's cheek,  
So tender and sweet.

"Bea, we can't have it all.  
It's all worthless when free."

"But what does it cost?"

"Opportunity. Loss."

With fear in her eyes,  
LeBeau again cried.

"Case, you ever chosen  
Hello or Goodbye?"

"There was no choice in loving,  
But I did choose to hide."

Now both of them wept.  
Too long they had kept  
Feelings deep where they slept.

They slumbered yet still  
Despite being seen.  
In love they were newborn,  
Both neophytes; green.

"What do you miss  
The most 'bout the Range?"

"I miss the vistas, the slimes;  
The work felt like play."

Casey leaned to embrace  
Her Bea where she lay.

"I'm sorry, my love,  
That you couldn't stay."


	6. One Thousand Onions at Twilight

Beatrix LeBeau had felt like a vegetable all day. She pondered at the setting of the moon, "What kind of vegetable am I?"

Surely it was no mundane, earthly vegetable. She was reminded of carrots. Well, they were certainly strange, but they were, in fact, earthly... right? Then again, they did grow in the Far Far Range. Wait!

Beatrix shot up in bed like a bullet. "Casey. Casey!" She whispered her name as loud as she could, shaking her lover's shoulder until she woke.

"What-is-it?" Casey grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You know how I was lethargic all day and just sorta spaced out while I was gardening?"

Casey nodded, though whether in affirmation or in staving off a hasty return to slumber, Beatrix would never be certain.

"I figured it out!" Bea threw her arms around Casey's shoulders as if overjoyed by some great secret of the universe newly revealed to her—there was no other explanation for such unbridled enthusiasm in the middle of the night. "I'm an odd onion! I've been a vegetable all day, but—"

"Bea," Casey interrupted, squinting at the dimly lit clock on the nightstand. "Bea, I love you, and I say this with love: It's 3:41 in the morning. Go to sleep, Odd Onion."

With a hum and a kiss to Casey's temple, Beatrix eased them both back into bed. "Of course, love."

That simple bit of nonsense would mark Bea's features with mirth well into the following day.


	7. One Thousand Loves Lost

Dear Mochi,

How have you been? Busy as always, I'm certain, but have you been taking time for yourself? I haven't received any starmail from you recently, so I wanted to check in.

I'd love to tell you that everything is perfect back here on Earth, but my heart has been torn since I left the Far Far Range. Don't get me wrong—being with Casey again makes me so indescribably happy, but she is aware of how much I gave up for her and how it affects me.

I woke up crying only a week ago. Casey was very thoughtful in her comforts—I may remember her words to me for the rest of my life. I told her I missed the Range, the excitement of exploring ever further into the wilds. I told her I missed you.

And she said, "I'm sorry too. Your choices spent you."

She said we can't have everything, that it's all worthless when it's free. I asked her what it cost.

And she said, "Opportunity. Loss."

My heart is torn, Mochi. I have lived two lives, but I can only live one at a time. I chose to leave Casey once—it gave me the space I needed to grow. But when I chose to return?

A part of my heart was abandoned when I sold the ranch. I don't know if I'll ever feel whole again. I love the whole world, but I love her the most. I don't think I made a mistake coming back, but it's been a struggle all the same.

Have you ever been in love, Mochi? You were so cold and full of hauteur when we first met. I am glad we're friends now. You're kinder than you let on—you'll make someone very happy someday—if that's something you want. You're coming out of your shell more and more each day.

I just hope you aren't forced to choose between two things that are precious to you. I guess that's life though, right?

_Life has a habit of_   
_presenting two doors;_   
_only one may be opened,_   
_the other ignored._

_I love the whole world_   
_and that includes you;_   
_Be well, my dear friend._   
_May our bond remain true._

~ Bea


End file.
